New Year Celebrations
by Satu-D-2
Summary: A prize fic for megaminoeien. Videl and Eraser celebrate New Year together, whether Hercule likes it or not. Friendshippy. One-shot.


AN. A prize fiction awarded to megaminoeien for her 1st place fanart in the December contest of DBZ-Friendshippy, the DA club I own, with her art 'The Gift That Keeps on Loving'. She has requested a fiction with the friendshippy pair of Eraser and Videl, pre-teen, based around New Year. I hope this lives up to her expectations XD

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"Hey, Dad?"

"Yes, snookums?"

"Can I go to Eraser-chan's for New Year? She invited me over specially."

There was a short pause following the young girl's request. Her father swallowed hard, then lowered his fists and turned. Instantly a warm towel was thrown around his shoulders and he began dabbing at his sweat-drenched face.

"I don't know, Videl," he said finally. "It's a bit late notice, don't you think?"

Satan Videl frowned, her lips drawing together into a tight line. She was wearing a long baggy T-shirt and shorts, the outfit completely hiding the curves she was beginning to develop. Of course, her father couldn't be happier about that.

"Please, Dad?" she asked, and there was more than a little threat in that voice. "Pretty please?"

"I don't think so, not this year." Hercule frowned a little, then grinned widely at his daughter. "How about next year?"

Videl didn't say anything. She crossed her arms, then turned and strode from the room, her nose pointed skyward, her eyes closed. Hercule sighed. He was never going to hear the end of this one.

This wasn't exactly true. Videl had no intention of bringing this up to her father ever, ever again. That was because she didn't plan to talk to him ever, ever again. How dare he restrict her like this? She was twelve years old, dammit! She was almost a teenager! She should have as much freedom as she wanted.

She went to her room, made a point of slamming the door behind her, then sat down heavily on her bed. What was she going to do now? She had already told Eraser that she would be at her house for New Year. She had promised. She had been so sure she would be allowed to.

Damn.

Inspiration struck. It was New Year's Eve for another five hours (did asking your father to go to a friend's house for New Year at seven o'clock on New Year's Eve count as late notice? She didn't think so…) and the sun was already dipping below the horizon outside. She could…well…it wasn't the first time she had done it… Still…

She nodded decisively, then sat down at her computer, typed out a short email, sent it, then grinned. She was going to have a fun night after all.

An hour later she slid open her window and slipped out, balancing on the window ledge before launching into midair. Her outstretched hands slipped through the air, then snagged on a branch of the huge pine tree outside her window. The serrated bark caught and ripped her palms, but she held tight, hoisting herself up onto the branch, grinning despite the biting pain in her hands.

"Here I come, Eraser-chan," she whispered, then proceeded to climb down the tree, dropping from branch to branch, before landing, cat-like, on the hard-packed ground.

She took off at a run, keeping as low as she could to avoid being spotted. She scaled the high fence that surrounded the land Hercule owned, then headed down the street. She didn't run towards Eraser's house, on the other side of town. Instead she ran in the opposite direction, heading for the park.

It took a long time. Much longer than she thought. She hadn't realised that the Satan estate was so far away from everything. Thank Kami she hadn't gone to Eraser's house; it was twice the distance and over much more windy roads. It was at least two hours before she got there, at 10 o'clock, only two hours before New Year's.

The park was huge, consisting of sloping green lawns and perfectly trimmed hedges. Flowerbeds lined every path, but Videl ignored them as she walked silently through the eastern gate and down the path. A small river, too large to be a creek, sliced through the park at a diagonal, and people could cross at three separate points on three wooden bridges. It was the central bridge that Videl was heading for, and when she reached it a relieved smile spread over her face when she saw a familiar silhouette leaning against the nearest post.

"Eraser-chan!"

The figure jolted, then Videl's blonde friend turned and smiled, spreading her arms out. She was wearing a frilly orange dress that highlighted the slight maturity of her body rather than hiding it the way Videl's outfit did.

"Videl-chan! You're late, I didn't think you were going to…to…"

Eraser paused, then burst out laughing as Videl reached her.

"What's so funny?" Videl asked, suspiciously.

"You…you look like a ninja," Eraser managed between giggles. "What are you wearing?"

Videl flushed as she looked down at herself. Sure, she was dressed a little bit like a ninja. She was wearing all black, long pants and a long-sleeved shirt, plus she had a black scarf tied around her forehead to prevent her hair from falling forward.

"Well, Dad wouldn't let me come to your house, so I snuck out," she said, shrugging.

Instantly a kind of shocked horror overtook the amusement in Eraser's eyes and her mouth dropped open.

"Oh, Videl-chan, you didn't!" She put one hand on her forehead and groaned. "Of course you did. You're Satan Videl. I wish you'd told me in your email."

"So what if I did?" Videl said, defensively, flushing a little deeper. "You invited me to New Year's with you. I just…wanted…"

Eraser's hand fell to her side and she smiled a little.

"I'm flattered," she said. "You snuck out of your house just to spend New Year with me? That's awesome, Videl-chan."

"We've got two hours to waste," Videl said softly, looking up at the sky. It was clear, stars sparkling far above, the moon a huge white orb hanging still in the sky. "What d'you wanna do?"

Eraser chewed lightly on her lower lip, tilting her head back and looking at the stars as well.

"Hey, look, if you connect those up together it spells 'Eraser'," she said suddenly, lifting one hand and pointing, tracing out her own name in the stars. She blinked, then turned her head a little to the right and moved her hand. "And there, it spells 'Videl'."

Videl raised one eyebrow. All she saw was a scattering of twinkling dots. What was Eraser on about?

She pointed up one hand and, in a faintly teasing tone, said, "Look, just there, it spells out 'Eraser is an idiot'. Fancy that."

Eraser turned her big blue eyes to where Videl was pointed, squinted for a moment, then shook her head as she smiled.

"Oh, Videl-chan, have you ever considered having your eyes checked? That clearly says 'Videl', not 'Eraser'."

There was a pause, then Videl lightly punched Eraser's upper arm.

"Very funny."

Eraser grinned. "C'mon, Videl-chan, you can do better than that. It's like playing Connect The Dots with no numbers. You've gotta be able to see something."

Videl looked up at the sky, squinted, tilted her head to the left, paused, then to the right. Here she stopped, her eyes darting over the sky. Eraser watched, a smile of anticipation on her face, until Videl finally said, "I think there's a bear up there."

"Where?"

"There." Videl pointed to the spot her eyes were fixed. "There's the ears and the head and the body…but it's got a tail. Maybe it's a monkey…" She traced each feature as she saw it, frowning slightly the whole time. Eraser let out a gleeful shout of laughter that made her jump.

"I see it, Videl-chan! Oh, it's definitely a monkey. It's so cute!!"

Videl winced a little at her friend's childish squeal, but smiled, inwardly pleased that she had managed to please Eraser. This friendship was so dear to her, she couldn't even express how much it meant.

They continued to trace patterns in the stars until just a few minutes before midnight. Then Videl stopped Eraser mid-rant about the invisible hippopotamus she had drawn in the sky with a soft, "Thank you for coming out this far, Eraser-chan…"

Eraser blinked, then smiled.

"It's alright, I don't mind. It's been fun, standing out here and tracing star-shapes with you."

"I…I know it's really far back home for you," Videl said, lowering her head and scuffing her feet on the wooden planks of the bridge. "It'll be at least two o'clock before you get home, right?"

"Around that." Eraser leant back on the railing of the bridge, her hands folded behind her back, her head tilted so she was looking up at the stars. "I don't mind though. It was going to be really boring at home. All they wanted to do was eat cheese."

Videl didn't laugh, but a small guilty smile touched her lips. Eraser ignored it.

"Thank you," she whispered.

Eraser didn't answer for a moment. Then she grabbed Videl's arm and pointed one finger towards the central part of Satan City.

"Look, Videl-chan, the fireworks! They've started!"

Videl lifted her eyes, looking at the bright explosions of coloured light that had appeared there. A second later the sound reached them, great booms rolling over them and drowning out all hope of speech. They watched in silence until the fireworks finished and the last of the booms faded into silence. Then Eraser turned to Videl, smiling widely.

"Happy New Year, Videl-chan," she said.

Videl smiled uncertainly.

"Happy New Year, Eraser-chan," she said softly.

Eraser giggled, then grabbed Videl in a tight hug. Videl froze in surprise, and by the time she had come back to herself, Eraser had let go.

"What's your New Year's resolution going to be? I'm thinking about trying to quit biting my nails, do you think that's a good one, Videl-chan, or it is impossible for me? I think that maybe I'll try and then if it doesn't work I'll get that nail polish, you know, the one that tastes really bad? Then again…"

Videl nodded and sat silently as Eraser nattered about her New Year's resolution. In her head one thought circled, chasing all ideas of her own resolution from her head.

_I started the year with a hug from my best friend._

And this thought made a strange and very pleasant warmth spread through her chest, and she surprised both herself and Eraser by leaning forward and hugging the blonde girl tight again.

"Vi-Videl-chan?"

"Thank you, Eraser-chan, so much…"

Eraser softened, slipping her arms around the waist of her shorter (for now at least) friend. She smiled widely, resting her head on Videl's shoulder.

"It's nothing, Videl-chan," she whispered. "You know that." There was a short silence, then they pulled away from each other, smiling slightly, an embarrassed flush touching Videl's cheeks. "We're friends, right? I mean, even though you're a bit boy-ish sometimes." Eraser clicked her fingers suddenly, her eyes widening and her lips curling up in a smile. Videl could almost see the light bulb flashing into life above her friend's blonde head. "I've got it! For your New Year's resolution you could let me give you a makeover!"

Videl suddenly realised that it wasn't a far stretch of her imagination to see Eraser with fangs and claws, a tube of lipstick held aloft in one hand and a mascara brush in the other. Terror set in and she lightly touched Eraser's shoulders.

"You know, Eraser-chan, I'm not that dedicated…"

Disappointment flooded Eraser's face, but it was quickly overtaken by amusement as she and Videl began to giggle, leaning back against the railing of the bridge and looking over towards the faint glow of Satan City, two best friends celebrating the New Year in a deserted park. And, though Videl would never admit it in the years to come, long after she met and married Son Gohan and began to share New Year celebrations with him and his family (though Eraser was always invited and always showed in the most flashy dress she could find), this was the fondest and the most treasured New Year party she ever had and ever would attend.

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AN. And there you go. I hope you enjoyed it, megaminoeien. Congratulations once again on winning XD


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